Rasheed makes strides with YouthInvest training

Rasheed, a 22-year-old student, is single and lives with his family of eight brothers and sisters. In his situation, living in a large family is not easy, especially when he has to work in order to meet their needs.

After school Rasheed works as a grocer. He sells food in a small shop, but because of his age and his lack of experience, he could not manage his small business, he did not know how to behave with his customers and how to manage his store to make it attractive. He also had problems with simple finances – for example, how to calculate profit and loss.

Since the 100 Hours to Success business training that Rasheed received with MEDA, his behavior with his clients has changed: He welcomes them with a smile, and presents his goods in an attractive manner.

He began to plan his business by drawing up a table of his income and expenditures and he calculates his profit margin.

He has also taken a loan of 8,000 Moroccan dirhams (about $940 US) from Al Amana, a MEDA microfinance partner, to manage his store and to add new merchandise.

He has opened a saving account in which he deposited 3,000 MDS (about $350 US) that he earned from his business.

Rasheed's now has a more flexible attitude towards his customers, which allows him to build better relationships with them.

He studies his competition to keep his prices in line with his competitors.

"The training program offered by MEDA Morocco helped me enormously to improve my business and also to increase my grades," notes Rasheed. "Now I feel proud of myself."

Meeting young beneficiaries delightful

YouthInvest finance manager Fatima Zohra Boukhnifi, this week's guest blogger, reports from her office in Casablanca on her recent visit to the field.

I have been working for MEDA Maroc since May 2009 as a finance and administration manager. For a year, I have been working in the office, getting regular reports from the field, but I couldn’t imagine how it really was until I got the opportunity to do a field visit to two of our partner NGOs.

In Boudenib, as in Ouarzazate, we attended some training sessions and we met members of the boards and some of the trainers, who showed a great enthusiasm and a remarkable sense of commitment. I was so happy to see that they have absorbed the philosophy of our training material and could transmit it to the youth.

But I was extremely delighted when I met the young beneficiaries, who were excited to talk about their experiences.

Safa, Rachid, Abdellah, Abdessamad, Mahjoub and many others found that 100 Hours to Success changed their lives. Thanks to this program, they have learned many techniques and are applying them in their daily lives. They have become more self-confident, more communicative, more assertive, and have earned the respect of their relatives and friends. They also are developing entrepreneurship skills and many of them feel able to set up their own businesses.

At the end of my trip, I was amazingly impressed by our program's impact on the youth and felt really proud of belonging to MEDA Maroc and contributing, even indirectly, to the success of this program.

Pictured: Fatima Zohra Boukhnifi, standing at centre, with MEDA Maroc staff

Giving youth "something that changes their lives"

This week's guest blogger, project manager Jennifer Denomy, reports from Morocco where she continues to introduce us to some of MEDA Morocco's staff members.

Monitoring and evaluation manager Khadija Saoudi often travels to the field, meeting with partners and beneficiaries. In rural areas where MEDA Maroc works, youth have no other programs or training they can access. These are neglected areas in terms of social services.

"Our program is interactive and allows youth to meet in groups to learn things – a new concept for many of them," reports Khadija. "When they begin the training, they love participating and learning with peers and do not want the classes to end. They ask if there is more training they can do and say “don’t forget us!”

"One of my favorite things is to talk to youth after they start the 100 Hours to Success training. They greet the trainer in the street and talk about how much they have learned in the classes. They are excited to report that they taught their family members to do the things they learned.

“I feel like we give them something that changes their lives. It’s a huge change, especially for the girls.” Khadija says that before receiving the training, youth describe living their lives “as it goes,” but now they have objectives and know how to motivate themselves to achieve what they want to do. They don’t stay at home until they get married, but have direction and purpose.

Unfortunately, many girls encounter opposition to plans they develop, because starting a business might require them to do things that go against local traditions. It's difficult for them to travel for work or to buy supplies for their business. But they know how to save and to create small enterprises. Some girls have overcome barriers and we will continue to encourage them.

Meet the YouthInvest staff! Here's Fatima Zohra …

This week's guest blogger, project manager Jennifer Denomy, reports from Morocco where she will be introducing us to some of the MEDA Morocco staff members over the coming weeks.

Being part of an inspiring program such as YouthInvest is bringing proud moments for project staff.

YouthInvest finance manager Fatima Zohra Boukhnifi felt one of those bursts of pride in April, when a group of youth “graduates” of the 100 Hour to Success program were interviewed by reporters and the project was featured on a national Moroccan news program.

"When I saw the interview on television, I felt so proud and told everyone I knew that I work on this project. I feel very connected to the work and to the beneficiaries."

Fatima Zohra also finds it rewarding to be part of the interaction between MEDA Maroc and MEDA headquarters in Waterloo, Canada. When there are accounting difficulties, she reaches out to HQ staff and feels she is not working alone. “We are supported and it’s very motivating,” she says.

MEDA’s deadlines are tighter than those in other places she has worked, and with HQ support, she is learning to prepare financial statements and reports more quickly.

Although everyone in the MEDA Maroc office works on different tasks and in different areas, decisions are made together. Everyone contributes and this makes the team very strong.

Fatima Zohra is now taking her first YouthInvest field visit and we look forward to hearing about her trip as she sees first hand what youth are learning in our project.